Local park may soon be named to honour volunteer

An aerial view of the park in the Mountview Area, City of Grande Prairie

One local park may soon have a new name. The Grande Prairie Downtown Association has asked the city if they could name the park at 112 Avenue and 93 Street in honour of Bill Adam.

Adam was a local volunteer who was involved in city council and was on various boards around the city. Parks Manager Josy Burrough says the groups wanted to use the name to also honour the contributions Adam has made to local minor sports.

“The Downtown association nominated Bill Adam for his efforts in the entire community. He played a big role in the development of minor hockey leagues in Grande Prairie. He was both a commissioner and a coach.”

The idea to give the previously unnamed park a name was originally brought to a council meeting in 2017. At that time it was determined that the name didn’t meet the criteria. That criteria didn’t allow a park to be named in honour of someone’s contributions.

Since then, Burrough says Parks Operations has worked to edit the criteria and add that section in. That allowed the name to be looked at again.

“Under the criteria of the park naming policy, if there is an individual nominated in the community because of something they’ve done in their background or the contributions that they’ve made to the community, they have an opportunity to be considered with this recognition.”

Before the name can officially be added to the park it will have to be brought to council for approval. That is expected to come up at a future meeting.